1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a type of carrying structure for a vehicle battery pack in an automobile equipped with a driving motor driven by the electric power from the battery pack.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, automobiles having a driving motor rotated by electric power from a battery (e.g. secondary battery) as a drive source have been put into practical use. Such vehicles are driven by a driving motor rotated by the electric power from the battery. Such automobiles carry a battery pack configured by connecting plural battery modules in tandem, with each battery module including plural battery cells connected in series. For conventional automobiles, in order to make effective use of the cabin space and to improve safety in a collision, the layout is usually such that the battery pack is arranged below the rear seat (i.e. the second row of seats for vehicles having three rows of seats) on the inner cabin side of the floor panel.
However, in conventional vehicles, the rear seat (i.e. the second row of seats) is mounted on a seat rail, for sliding the seat back-and-forth inside the vehicle body, via a mounting fixture. Consequently, when battery pack maintenance or replacement operations are to be performed, a worker cannot access the battery pack unless the rear seat and seat rails are temporarily removed, making the operation difficult and inefficient.